Not that there is November/December reward for a season ticket-buyer. To say that the seven nonleague home opponents are uninspiring would be diplomatic. Highlights are a return to the state by former Indiana coach Mike Davis with Detroit, and a visit by Mississippi.

Last season’s eight nonleague home opponents had an average KenPom computer ranking of 198th. Average of this seven is 231st, based on 2017-18 numbers.

On the other hand, this is how a program from a power conference schedules. And make no mistake: the Big East is a national power. It has been ranked among the top three conferences in each of the past four years.

“In my opinion, the Big East is the best conference in the country,” Butler coach LaVall Jordan said. “Every season, we need to put together a nonconference schedule that will challenge us and prepare us for Big East play, and this schedule certainly will do that.”

The Bulldogs have three neutral-site games in the Bahamas and one against Indiana, plus trips to Saint Louis and Florida. When the Bulldogs were in the Horizon League, the nonleague schedule was everything. The Big East allows multiple chances for resume-boosting victories.

Butler’s schedule could grow more difficult if the Big East begins a series against the Big 12, as CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein has reported. The Bulldogs are not part of this year’s Gavitt Games, which pair teams from the Big East and Big Ten.

Butler announced its nonleague schedule Wednesday, although most dates and names had trickled out. The Big East schedule won’t be announced until after Labor Day.

Butler travels to Florida on Dec. 29, a date that would be problematic if there were a Big East game on New Year’s Eve, as customary. However, the league is starting later in 2019.

CLOSE

Top 10 scorers in Butler men's basketball history
Scott Horner/IndyStar

The Bulldogs earned NCAA at-large bids over the past four years with pre-league records of 10-3, 11-1, 11-1 and 10-3.

So while a first-division league finish would be necessary for a record-tying fifth straight tourney bid, Butler also needs be 10-3 or better. If the Big East declines in 2018-19, Butler might need to be better than 9-9 in the conference, too.

After losses to Maryland and Texas, the Bulldogs turned around their season last November with a 67-66 comeback win in overtime against Ohio State and their former coach, Chris Holtmann, at Portland, Ore. In turn, Holtmann’s first season as Butler coach was jump-started with a 2014 upset of No. 5 North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Thanksgiving weekend is too early for a team to be in or out . . . but there will be urgency when the Bulldogs return to the Bahamas in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Average KenPom rating was 52nd for Butler’s five nonleague opponents away from Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2017-18. If the Bulldogs were to play Virginia and Oklahoma in the Bahamas, for example, the average for six such opponents would be 77th, based on last season.

Butler has one Saturday home game in November — the Nov. 10 opener against Miami of Ohio — and one in December, Northern Illinois on Dec. 10. The Bulldogs’ exhibitions are Oct. 28, a Sunday, against Tiffin and Nov. 3 against Southern Indiana.

Email IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com or call (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.